Elena Rybakina’s new coach Goran Ivanisevic reveals key changes he wants Kazakh to make
Elena Rybakina’s new coach Goran Ivanisevic has shed light on the areas he has been focusing on in training with the Kazakh star.
The 2001 Wimbledon winner believes Rybakina can benefit from playing “more aggressively” and showing more emotion on court.
Rybakina started her 2025 campaign by inspiring Kazakhstan to a 2-1 victory over Spain in the opening round-robin tie of the 2025 United Cup.
The world No 6 eased to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to level the contest after teammate Alexander Shevchenko was crushed 6-2, 6-1 by Pablo Carreno Busta.
Rybakina and Shevchenko then joined forces to earn a 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 10-7 win against Spain’s Carreno Busta and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers in the decisive mixed doubles rubber. Kazakhstan will face Greece in their second Group C tie — and another victory will ensure their progress to the knockout stage.
The 25-year-old hired Ivanisevic in November after parting ways with long-time former coach Stefano Vukov following the 2024 US Open. Ivanisevic’s hugely successful spell as Novak Djokovic’s coach came to an end in March this year.
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Speaking on a Tennis Channel broadcast at the United Cup, Ivanisevic revealed what he has been working on with Rybakina since joining the 2022 Wimbledon winner’s team.
“We worked a couple weeks in Dubai,” the Croatian said. “A little bit on the serve. Trying to push her to come to the net more.
“She has a big game and can finish the point much earlier than she was usually doing. It’s a process.
“She needs to put in her head that she can play more aggressively, come to the net, and finish some points with the volleys.”
The former world No 2 also highlighted the value he sees in Rybakina adding more emotion to her approach.
“Definitely not going to see her breaking rackets, but hopefully she does show more emotion,” Ivanisevic added.
“She’s a very different person and very calm. But I’ve been trying to put some emotion and I think it’s going to help her game.”
Following her victory over Bouzas Maneiro, Rybakina addressed her partnership with Ivanisevic.
“We did preparations. For a couple weeks. We’re getting to know each other better. There are a lot of things I can improve,” the Kazakh explained.
“We’re working a little bit on everything. It’s so difficult to come here straight away and play. Slowly I think we will see the results of the work.”
Ahead of the United Cup, Rybakina said: “We had a couple of weeks together, Goran’s a fun guy. I can’t say too much about our work, but we had a good preparation.
“Not much time has passed but I’m already getting experience from him, especially as a player, how he used to prepare.”
“I’m learning every day, I’m feeling much better physically and hopefully we can do well here.”
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